But much more ambitious uses of space light technology have been explored. Space light is by far the most abundant energy flow in the solar systemand it is free, for whatever purpose we choose. We could stave off the next Ice Age, we could shield Venus to make it habitable, we could warm up Marsand for how to sail on space light, see The Wind from the Sun (available in Clarkes collected stories, Gollancz, 2000).
Aurora (chapter 9) is actually the name of an ambitious new program of space exploration put together by the European Space Agency. The program is similar in broad outlines to the new direction in human space exploration for NASA announced by President Bush in January 2004. If the programs go ahead as planned, it seems likely that they will develop cooperativelyand that the timetable we indicate in this book, with a manned landing on Mars in the 2030s, might indeed come about.
The idea of the mass driver, an electromagnetic launcher on the Moon (chapter 19), was originated by Clarke in a paper published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (November 1950).
British engineers have a proud tradition of devising plausible spaceplane designs (chapter 23); see for example a recent article on Skylon by Richard Varvill and Alan Bond in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society (January 2004).
The development of new materials appears to be bringing the notion of a space elevator (chapter 50) closer to reality (see Clarkes Fountains of Paradise, 1979). See The Space Elevator by Bradley Edwards, BC Edwards, 2002.
And there really will be a total solar eclipse over the western Pacific on April 20, 2042. See NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center Eclipse Home Page for precise predictions.
Were very grateful to Professor Yoji Kondo (aka Eric Kotani) for his generous advice on some technical aspects.
Sir Arthur C. Clarke
Stephen Baxterra
November 2004
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